


Ozai's mark

by Juniperboy



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Love, M/M, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Ozai - Freeform, Protective Sokka (Avatar), Romance, Sokka - Freeform, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko - Freeform, gay Zuko, sad sokka, zukka - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:41:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25080064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juniperboy/pseuds/Juniperboy
Summary: Zuko tells Sokka how he got his scar: he doesn't take it well.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 418





	Ozai's mark

It had been a long day in the Fire Nation. The city seemed to be in a state of exhaustion, as though every member collectively needed a rest. The heat had increased drastically over the past few months, and it had gotten to the point where even the fire benders couldn’t bear it anymore.  
Zuko had forgotten that his father’s birthday was in the summer. It had only hit him when he was walking to one of his meetings, and the damp summer air brought back memories of him and his sister being forced to fire bend for his father, as well as have a special meal. He shuddered as he remembered his sister’s shrill laughter, his father’s disapproving glare, and his own failures.  
As he walked into the meeting, he realized with a jolt that he had never told his husband, Sokka, how he had gotten his scar. If he wanted to leave the past behind him...well, he supposed he would have to let Sokka in.  
That night, Zuko returned home late from his duties. He always did; he was the Fire Lord, of course. But tonight he made a point of doing everything possible to avoid returning home.  
He didn’t want Sokka to think less of him once he heard his story.  
“Hey, Zu!” Sokka grinned as Zuko entered the kitchen, wordlessly taking a seat. Sokka loved to cook, and he had gotten good at it too. He was making Komodo rhino sausages, a dish that he had been working particularly hard to master. “How was your day?”  
“We need to talk.” Zuko just wanted to get this over with. He knew Sokka would still love him, right? Would he think him too cowardly, or believe that he deserved his punishment? He could feel himself becoming that scared, helpless thirteen-year-old again, at the mercy of his father.  
He shook his head. Ozai had no power now. Zuko could have him executed if he wanted to. He shouldn’t be able to hurt him anymore.  
“What is it, babe?” Sokka took the sausages off of the fire. After plating them, Sokka doused the fire and sat down, deciding to leave the food until after the discussion. He could tell that Zuko was troubled; his eyes were dark and he was unable to meet Sokka’s gaze.  
“I want to tell you how I got my scar...it’s my father’s birthday, and I...I don’t want today to mean anything. If I get this over with now, neither of us will have to think of it again.” Zuko was tracing the tough, pink skin around his left eye. “I was only thirteen...I only wanted to please him. I tried to be a loyal prince and he repaid me with this.” Zuko’s hand was clutching his eye now.  
“Who? Who did this to you?” Sokka struggled to keep his voice down. He was supposed to be Zuko’s rock, damn it. It was _him_ who was supposed to comfort Zuko about his trauma, not the other way around.  
“Ozai. I sat in on one of his meetings, and when I spoke out against him, he...challenged me to an Agni Kai…” Zuko squeezed his eyes shut as memories flashed through his mind: his father’s screams, the flames lapping at his face, the pain that still hasn’t quite left him. “I couldn’t battle him. He was my father, for Agni's sake! But, when I begged for forgiveness, he…” Zuko let out a long sigh.  
The steam from the stifled fire began to fill the room, concealing Sokka’s face. Zuko couldn’t tell if he was angry, upset, scared, or disappointed. Would Sokka be disappointed?  
Without warning, Sokka pushed his chair back and left, storming out of the royal palace.  
_I knew it..._ Zuko began to sob into his hands, his tears dissolving against the heat of his face. _He was too good for me. I know, I know I didn’t do anything wrong...but if Ozai was to blame for this, then why is Sokka mad at me? I’m so stupid. I knew I deserved it. I...I’ve grown too soft...stupid, stupid, stupid..._  
As he began to question whether or not he deserved his punishment, Sokka stormed up to the nearest imperial guard, choking back tears.  
“Take me to Ozai’s cell, please. Fire Lord’s orders” was all he managed to say. The guard simply nodded, leading him towards the Capital City Prison.  
Ozai had refused to speak to anyone since he ended up in prison. He genuinely acted how Iroh had pretended to act while he was in prison: like a sad shell of himself.  
When Sokka approached the cell, Ozai simply looked up and narrowed his eyes.  
“I have half a mind to tear you to fucking shreds,” Sokka bent down to Ozai’s level, “do you understand how pathetic you are? Traumatizing a thirteen-year-old, just to get your bending taken away by a twelve-year-old?”  
Sokka couldn’t stop thinking about Zuko. How afraid, how alone he must have been. Who else did he have besides Iroh? His mother disappeared, his father and sister hated him, and his uncle had been away on war missions for most of his life.  
Of course he had so much pent up anger.  
Sokka spat towards the cell, “why did you do it? Why did you hurt your-your firstborn...for nothing?” Tears had begun to slip down Sokka’s face, “what reason do you have for hurting a child? The only mentally stable person in your entire family?”  
When Ozai didn’t answer, Sokka lunged at the cell, gripping the bars. Ozai lunged backward, taking a fire bending stance before the realization hit him and he slumped back to the floor.  
“ANSWER ME. WHY DID YOU HURT ZUKO?” His breath was coming in shallow gasps as he felt the guards’ arms on him, prying him away from the cell.  
“NO-NO I NEED AN ANSWER!” Sokka yelled as he was guided away from Ozai’s cell and towards the entrance. To his surprise, Zuko was rushing in as he was being ushered out.  
“Sokka, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have--”  
“Why are you apologizing? If anyone should be, it’s Ozai…” Sokka glared back at the tower once more as he exited the building. “I shouldn’t have stormed out. I just...needed some answers. I should have been there for you, I know how hard it must have been for you to tell me.” Zuko recoiled as Sokka reached for his hand.  
“You mean-you mean you aren’t upset with me?” Zuko had gone to the prison to talk to his father. He wanted to see if he had any remorse for what he did. Zuko still desperately wanted to believe that his father had good inside him.  
“Zu-you don’t think it was your fault, do you?” Sokka stopped, the dusk breeze weaving through his hair. “You were thirteen. You only wanted what was best for your nation, for your father...and even if you were ill-intentioned, you know that nothing justifies what your father did to you, right?”  
Zuko collapsed to his knees with a thump. He choked back his sobs out of fear of alerting the imperial guards. “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to hear those words...I always thought that maybe I wasn’t good enough, or I was too bratty, but…”  
Sokka bent down to cup his face in his hands. “Trust me, Zuko. Nothing you did or could have done can justify your father _literally burning your flesh off_.”  
Upon hearing those blunt words, Zuko knew Sokka was right. As Sokka settled down next to him, he looked up at the stars.  
“I don’t want to be in the Royal Palace tonight,” He sighed, expecting his husband to bid him goodnight and head back without him.  
Sokka thought for a moment, “what if we make it a yearly tradition to sleep under the stars, just like this?”  
Zuko put his head in Sokka’s lap, radiating a calming warmth that put a smile on Sokka’s face; they were both exhausted. “Deal.”


End file.
